Penn State running back Bill Belton runs during the third quarter of a 24-14 loss to Ohio at Beaver Stadium. JOE HERMITT, The Patriot-NewsJOE HERMITT, The Patriot-News

Bill O'Brien was discreet when talking about his injured running backs Tuesday afternoon during his weekly press conference, though he did say one is ahead of the other.

Both Bill Belton and Derek Day sat out Saturday's victory over Navy, and are listed as possible on this week's injury report.

Initially, O'Brien was reserved on the status of both of his top two running backs.

"The running backs look fine for Saturday. Running back is a very physical position, and we are fortunate to have so many guy here that all do things a little bit differently," O'Brien said.

However, later in the session, he offered more insight into the situation.

"I would say that Day is a little bit ahead of Belton, but they are both day-to-day, and we are going to continue to monitor that," O'Brien said.

"That's the nature of the position, and we've got production out of other guys there like Curtis Dukes, Michael Zordich, and Zach Zwinak probably needs to play a little bit more. So we'll see what happens."

O'Brien also updated true freshman linebacker Nyeem Wartman's progress, saying that Wartman will likely be out for a lengthy period of time.

"It's disappointing because you feel bad for the guy, and he has a really bright future here at Penn State, but I wouldn't expect him back for a while," O'Brien said.